Romans 14:5

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.

Many Christians of Jewish background had faithfully observed the sabbaths, festivals, and celebrations of the Jewish institutions from childhood, and therefore counted such occasions more holy than others, continuing to mark and observe them even after their acceptance of Christianity, in such a manner "esteeming one day above another." Gentile Christians, on the other hand, more easily accepted the Christian teaching that all time is holy, every day of the week being sacred to the child of God; and thus, in that way, he esteemed "every day alike." The teaching of this verse does not relax the commandments to observe the Christian assembly, observe the Lord's Supper, and lay by in store "on the first day of the week." Nor does "esteeming every day alike" authorize the Lord's Supper to be observed on just any day. Paul was dealing here with an utterly different question, that of the Jewish holy days, such as various sabbaths. The Galatian churches had taken up such observances and were vigorously condemned for it (Galatians 4:10,11).

Let each man be fully assured in his own mind ... is an appeal for conscientious conduct on the part of every Christian. Although the word "conscience" does not appear in this chapter, it is nevertheless, in a sense, the subject of it, a subject of surpassing importance to every child of God.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE CONSCIENCE

From Romans 2, it has already appeared that conscience, like memory, reason, and imagination, is a noble endowment of humanity, and one that sets people apart from the lower orders of creation. The function of this priceless faculty, as noted by R. C. Bell, is:

Not to ascertain the truthfulness of things, but to see that its owner is true to himself and follows his convictions; that, in violating his conscience, a man so destroys his moral integrity as to make moral, spiritual living impossible; and, therefore, the most deadly thing a man can do is to trifle with his conscience; for, in so doing, he is tampering with the compass of his soul.[5]

The man who violates his conscience, as well as the person who might have influenced him to violate it, are both guilty of sin in such a transgression, as pointed out by an apostle,

If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things (1 John 3:20).

Thinking that a thing is right cannot make it so; but thinking that a thing is wrong can indeed make it so for him who thus thinks. For further considerations on this subject, see my Commentary on Hebrews, p. 198.